


Flotation Device

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Genre: Drowning, Gen, SLIGHT abuse by lusus??, idk - Freeform, if you do not like drowning this is not the fic for you, not very much of equius though just a cameo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-21
Updated: 2012-07-21
Packaged: 2017-11-10 09:49:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/464938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The ocean is a terrifying thing to little Gamzee Makara. It takes and takes, and it doesn’t ever give back. The dark grey water eats up everything it can get its hands on. Rocks. Perfectly good bottles of Faygo, not even opened. Horns that were left out after a day of playing on the beach. It even eats up his lusus.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Flotation Device

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RandomDraconic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandomDraconic/gifts).



> I'm really nervous about posting this, as it's the first thing I've written in a while. But. Here you go?

The ocean is a terrifying thing to little Gamzee Makara. It takes and takes, and it doesn’t ever give back. The dark grey water eats up everything it can get its hands on. Rocks. Perfectly good bottles of Faygo, not even opened. Horns that were left out after a day of playing on the beach. It even eats up his lusus.

The rocks, Faygo bottles, and horns never came back. Every time his lusus leaves, Gamzee’s terrified that this would be the time the sea finally claimed him. Sure, his lusus didn’t do a lot for Gamzee, but…The fact that there was always the occasional trace of indigo blood washing up on the shore from the seadwellers’ hunting didn’t help soothe his fears any further.

He’s hesitant to even wade out a couple of inches into the salty water, scared that the ocean will take him as well. He only even dares those few inches to reunite with his lusus whenever the great white creature returned home. Normally, his lusus was fine with this. On the eve of his fourth wriggling day, that changed dramatically.

His lusus comes home, like he makes sure to every wriggling day. He waits out in the shallow water by the shore for Gamzee to approach him, with a fresh face of paint and clean shirt. And Gamzee scampers out of the hive, into the first few inches of water. He’s not able to throw his arms around his lusus’ neck or yell in celebration or any of the things he’s done in the sweeps before.

Because his lusus whacks him into the deeper water with one big white hoof.

Gamzee hits the water, sinks fast and hard, his mouth open from surprise. He can’t breathe, he can’t breathe, and when he tries he only sucks in salty water. He thinks he’s drowning, and he’s not entirely wrong. He’s only able to get back up to air when panic and instinct makes him paddle towards the sun like a barkbeast would.

He splutters out water when he surfaces. The taste of salt is strong and disgusting in his mouth. He can taste his paint, too – apparently it had run into his mouth sometime underwater. It is incredibly unpleasant, and not at all how he wanted his wriggling day to go. He coughs out a bit of water and the air makes his lungs hurt when he breathes in.

His lusus scoops him up with both hooves, and deposits him on the sand much more gently than Gamzee had expected. Seconds later, his lusus’ muzzle rubs against his head, his horns. Gamzee thinks that his lusus is trying to tell him he’s proud, or apologize, or something. Maybe even just an attempt to dry him off.

Still, that incident doesn’t do anything to make him hate the ocean less. Now just thinking about the ocean makes his lungs ache and heart race.

A sweep later, things are much the same, though Gamzee expects being tossed into the deeper waters. This year, he is prepared. He holds his breath.

He also may have asked a really smart blueblood to help him create a flotation device.

The blueblood had sighed (and…sweat, a bit?) and simply given him a weird looking vest – yellow, with a lot of straps that seemed useless – and told him to wear it. Gamzee wears it under his shirt, and only seconds after he’s submerged in the water, he resurfaces.

The ocean was less of a scary place with a weird floaty vest that kept him safe above the waves.

He still hates the way it took his lusus away, though. Even the flotation vest couldn’t keep his lusus in the bay near his hive.

Later, Gamzee asks the blueblood if there was some crazy miraculous object that could keep your lusus at your hive. 

There wasn’t.


End file.
